Going Down in Flames
by Makori
Summary: Chap. 4 is up! Meia and Todd argue about what a person needs emotionally and socially, but it boils down to the battle to help these two work things out. MeiaxOC
1. Boy Meets Girl

(A/N: Even if this first chapter seems kind of pointless, red the second one, as tit will explain everything in this one. And, of course, my fingers type faster depending on the number of review I get!)

**Going Down in Flames**

Chapter 1: Boy Meets Girl

It was here. The imminent end.

He watched as four other pilots simply stepped away, heads bowed, voices broken, close to tears. Another four Bolthawks scrapped. What was becoming of people, when they trashed their own perfectly working machines?

Todd McHuyens grunted to himself and glanced through the window into the hanger, sipping his coffee. Only two Bolthawks left now, and Todd knew one of them was his. The other twenty-two spots were being filled by the newest generation of pilots, these flying Magnacyclones.

_"Curse the bloody lot of 'em."_ Todd thought to himself.

Newer planes meant newer pilots, as 'retraining' seemed to take far too long. It was a shitty theory, but Todd had to agree that once a pilot got adjusted to one flying machine, it became harder to fly another. The bulky, boxlike nature of the Bolthawk, though more heavily armored and able to carry more weapons, seemed inferior to the sleek, birdlike nature of the Magnacyclone. 

_"They're recycling us like old parts_."

Most pilots were indeed recycled into either gritty maintenance or the dank, dark magazines to equip the other craft. Although this was not a fate Todd himself wished, there was one other he would take it for.

"Oi, Todd! What the hell're ya doin' bro?" Todd looked up from the window to look at his little brother, Angus.

Although Angus had never really been that accustomed to the farm work back home, even in his yellow trench-coat uniform, he looked even more like a plow hand, ready to break into a smile at any time.

Todd shrugged, sipping his coffee again and looking back out the window. "It's nothin' Angus. Jus' sayin' goodbye to some ol' friends."

Angus sat down across from his older brother, frowning. "They been recycling those planes fer a half hour now. Don't tell me you've been up here in the mess hall all this time."

Todd shrugged, sipping at his coffee, now completely stone cold. They sat in silence for about ten minutes, watching the clean-up crews finish sweeping up all the loose metal, until the PDA speaker above their heads crackled into life, breaking the murmur of the static that continued over the line, and announced _**"Attention! Delegates report for launch! Taraakian ships inbound!"**_

Todd sighed, tipping back his head and gulping the rest of his coffee.

"Well, little bro, that'll be us, now." Angus nodded, still watching the crews. Todd rolled his eyes, slapping Angus' shoulder as he stood up, saying "C'mon, ya little fool. Quit gawkin' the Magnacyclones. Stupid, over-loaded pieces of…"

Todd's grumbles turned to murmuring as he slipped his black steel helmet on, pulling the goggles down over his eyes. Angus quickly hurried to catch up, strapping his own helmet on.

* * *

_**"Bolter Two, ye're clear fer launch. Set pressure to thirty-five hundred PSI for starter. You'll on'y need a small boost."**_

__ Todd nodded, aware that the flight operator wouldn't see it, and spoke into the comm link in his oxygen mask. "Roger that, Flight, settin' pressure."

He flicked the dial up with his thumb on the launch control pressure ramp. On the catapult, the pressure in the hose increased substantially, preparing to launch the Bolthawk into open space.

_**"3…2…1. Bolter Two, ye may now launch."**_

Todd grinned under the mask, reaching out and flipping up the plastic cover before depressing the launch button with his thumb.

"Launchin'."

His finger released the button, and the catapult released the pressure, causing the ramp to fly forward, pushing the Bolthawk out of the Carrier at a speed of approximately forty miles an hour. Right on the lip of the hanger, Todd punched the ignition button, lighting the hydrogen fuel cell and lifting off from the rampway, out into open space. This was the one part Todd loved the most about launching. The sense of freefall he got from simply drifting there, the acceleration from the thruster dying away right before the engines kicked in. He breathed in deeply, savoring the moment.

Then, the fuel cell connected, and the engines ignited. The Bolthawk slammed forward, throwing Todd backwards into his seat. Raise the landing skids, drop the aero-extensions. Perfect. The wings unfolded, exposing the twin hydrogen powered boosters set under each wing. Once the boosters kicked in, then they were really flying. Swiftly, Todd set the inertia dampeners to a higher pressure, otherwise the force of the acceleration would have smashed him flat against the seat. And now…absolutely perfect.

He opened the comm link to his brother, down in the ball turret on the belly of the craft. "How ya doin' Angus?"

_**"If you can call being stuffed in a cramped, bulletproof coffin good, then I am so far. It's a good thing I don't have claustrophobia, eh?"**_

Todd laughed to himself. "Yeah, or else who'd save my arse from the Earth buggers?"

**_"Good thing I'm down here, then. I don' think I'll be getting any ladies smelling like gunpowder all the time, though."_**

"Easy, Angus, don't go getting' trigger happy, now. We're just escort. There's no war here yet."

**_"Roger."_**

As Todd brought the Bolthawk closer to the Ikazuchi, his comm set crackled again, and he made out the words _**"All escorts…circle…until further…clear?"** _Though nearly the entire message was scrambled, Todd still managed to interpret it's meaning, and as he set himself up for the patrol, he adjusted his frequency until the static disappeared.

_"Figgers. They can make a space craft that can go fifteen times faster than the speed of sound, yet they can' go ahead an' make a decent comm set. I really loath inventors."_

* * *

Two hours later, and the talks on board seemed not to have yet come to a conclusion. Hell, they hadn't even started, apparently. Some young fool from Taraak had somehow managed to sneak his way onboard, making a fool of everyone at the opening ceremony for the new Van-Type power suits. Personally, Todd wouldn't have minded a bit. Everything needed some comic relief, but whoever was in charge was setting the kid up for an execution.

"_Huh…looks like Taraak is as harsh as its reputation states. We'll be having some trouble getting through now-wait, what?" _

He sat up from his relaxed position, his eyes fixed on the scanner. He'd caught a blip, only a momentary flash, on the screen. There it was again!

He keyed the comm link. "Angus, ya see anything out there?"

_**"I was gonna ask ya the same thing, bro. I just saw something odd. What do ye think it is?"**_

Before Todd could respond, however, something else flashed again, then smashed itself into the side of the Ikazuchi, detonating with a loud explosion. Todd's gloved hands swiftly gripped the control stick as he swerved around, increasing speed to cut the turn in half.

"This is Bolter Two, calling all Jumael units! We've got visitors!"

All throughout the comm link, there were affirmatives and curses as the other twenty craft in space swerved around to face this new threat, which suddenly seemed to come from all sides. Bright, metallic flashes, sometimes pink, sometimes yellow, and one or two of them blue, kept zipping past, and Todd was still struggling to get his spacecraft to lock onto one. It was no good, the turn was making him bleed speed, and he finally straightened out, bringing his guns sights up on the canopy. Finally, he targeted one that seemed to be leading the charge itself, his thumb digging at the trigger button. Large caliber bullets the size of a man's fist flew out from the four guns mounted along the wings, but the enemy simply dodged the rounds, flipping past as easily as if they were simply darts. Something smashed into the side of his craft, and Todd snarled, finally getting a better control on the speed, and adjusted his flight path to tear after another craft, this one dull pink, and his bullets finally found a mark, ripping the craft apart. Whooping in victory, he swerved around, seeking another target, while from below he heard the hammering of the ball turret as Angus unloaded the twin machine guns on this mysterious enemy.

Taraak was losing, no doubt about it. In fact, they were even so desperate as to keep their craft away from the women that they disconnected the Ikazuchi, separating the large, new boxy section from the older, sleeker section. Todd couldn't really see why, though, until he spotted the enemy fighters entering the hanger. The enemy was already inside.

_**"Todd, this is bad. I'm readin' a torpedo launch from the new section of the Ikazuchi to the old one. They're gonna blow the thing apart!"**_

Cursing his slower speed, Todd looked around, but the other Magnacyclones had already gotten clear, and all he could spot of them were the blue streaks of their engines.

"Gotta get closer." He muttered. If they were behind the Ikazuchi when the torpedo detonated, they might be able to use the destruction of the craft as a propellant to get out of there. Better yet...

He swooped down towards the open hangar, ignoring the protests of his brother, and leaned to one side. The enemy would be coming out any second, an he would be ready to vaporise them when they did.

5 seconds to impact. He slowed his speed, ready to hit the boosters once the torpedo exploded.

4 seconds. He bit his lip, trying to keep his breathing slow, so as to not hyperventilate and suck up the oxygen.

3 seconds. He heard Angus grinding his teeth over the cockpit.

2 seconds. His gloves tightened on the stick.

1 second. He closed his eyes, his thumb over the booster button.

Impact.

Then, with a flash and a large explosion, everything disappeared.


	2. And Then I Don't Know What To Do

(A/N: To repay my readers for such a crappy first chapter, I have worked all night to create this second, much better chapter. And please, I would like some reviews, if possible. Enjoy!)

**Going Down in Flames**

Chapter 2: And Then I Don't Know What To Do

It was gone.

For Todd, the entire universe had simply vanished. The huge, flashing battle had swiftly been replaced by black emptiness.

Todd blinked a few times before reaching up with a gloved hand and rubbing at his goggles a bit to make sure they hadn't been covered by something and he just hadn't realized it. But no, he couldn't hear the sound of battle out there either.

This was very wrong.

There had to be a reason this was happening, and a million things sprang to his mind, the first being that he was dead. He must've misjudged the torpedo's flight path, must've gotten caught in the explosion. But no, it couldn't, because Angus started swearing from the ball turret. __

_**"What the friggin' bloody hell is that?"**_

Todd frowned, leaning forward a little and looking to first his right, then his left, saying "Angus, bro, I don' see-woah."

And 'woah' indeed. Another large vessel, red and sleek, and the remnants of the Ikazuchi were joined by bright greens…cords, they almost looked like. The surrounding debris was being pulled in too. It was almost as if the two ships were turning into a single craft…

"_**Yo, Todd! We gotta move, bro! We're gettin' sucked in too!"**_

Angus yelling over the comm link was probably the only thing that saved them both. Starting frantically, Todd grabbed the control stick, jerking it around. The Bolthawk swerved so fast it almost seemed to turn on an invisible axis, rocketing off in the opposite direction of the two merging ships.

* * *

An hour had passed, and so far, nothing had really happened. The gravitational pull of debris seemed to have halted, but rather than take that chance and move closer, Todd had managed to keep coasting on a circuit that had taken them around the two ships at least twice now. As his attention was not needed, Todd's thought were elsewhere, on the train of thought one normally enters when things go to hell in a hand basket.

"_What's happening here? Too many things going on in the same moment. First, we get attacked, then Taraak decides we might as well die with them to protect their 'secrets.' Crazy friggin' lunatics…"_

Todd looked back over his shoulder, trying to get a good view of the ships through the canopy. The merging actually seemed to have slowed, partially, as the glow was no longer as bright as it used to be.

"_**Todd! Bloody eyes friggin' forward!"**_

Again, Angus saved both of them, and Todd turned forward just as the sensors started going wild. Multiple hostiles were zipping towards them, firing red projectiles that looked suspiciously like the lasers Earth used. Todd gulped, pulling back on the throttle as he swerved the craft around on the invisible axis once more. Once he could see the ships again, or single ship as it seemed to be one whole craft now, he opened the throttle, gunning the boosters at the same time. With the fragile frame of a Magnacyclone, the entire craft would have been ripped apart by the sudden sharp increase in acceleration. However, the Bolthawk held together, simply rocketing forward.

Though it seemed apparent that the Bolthawk itself was not the Harvesters' primary target, the sensors still picked up multiple lock-ons. It seemed Earth didn't care who it was firing at, as the Cube-forms both strafed the ship and fired on Todd and Angus. As he felt his brother hammering away again in the ball turret, Todd opened his comm link to all frequencies, desperate to contact the ship.

"Flight, this is Bolter Two, requestin' immediate assistance! Do ye copy!"

_**"Would you shut up already and stop yelling in my ear? We're already out here, mind helping us out?"**_

And, inexplicably, three fighters blasted off the flight platform of the ship, launching forward to engage the enemy. Well, two were. A silver one and a red one, oddly shaped, were firing into the fray. The third one, a blue craft, simply rocketed around, obviously trying not to get hit.

"Oi…" Todd grumbled to himself, swerving around again and blasting away, trying to make the distinction between supposed friend and obvious foe. It actually was hard, just aim for the creepy yellow things with arms, don't shoot the blurs with blue jet wash. Once or twice, however, he almost crashed into one of them, the silver one, and he finally got a transmission again.

_**"Can you watch where you're going! You're so damn reckless!"**_

Risking a glance at his monitor, Todd spotted the picture of a young woman with turquoise hair and a strange black and white suit. The monitors were a new innovation, just recently installed in all Jumael space fighters.

Todd ground his teeth, choosing his words carefully before responding "An' jus' where should I be shootin' my 'reckless' arse, then, oh captain my captain?"

The girl scowled before snarling _**"Try shooting the enemy instead, or ramming them if that's the way you want to attack!"**_

_"Ooh, this girl is ROYALLY pissing me OFF!" _

"Fine then," he spat back, digging at the weapon selector before pulling the trigger. As the three 'friendly' craft were out of the way, the tone of lock-on didn't register on any of them, and the eight heavy missiles in the small pods mounted on the tops of the wings shot out, lacing through space with a trail of smoke before impacting on their targets.

As Todd once more flashed by the silver fighter, he hammered at an enemy on her tail before grinding out "There. Happy now, your highness?" The girl scowled at him on the monitor before saying "No, but it'll do." Todd smiled to himself, spinning off after another clump of enemies that seemed to be begging to be ripped apart by his cannon fire.

"I gots a little message for Earth, ya little bastards: Rejection!"

* * *

They couldn't hold them all off, it was that obvious. The ship had already turned and started fleeing in another direction, and it taxed Todd's boosters to the limit to keep up with the rest of the group of fighters.

Suddenly, out from the platform, a yellow blur appeared, then just froze, upside-down in mid space, while the Cube-forms converged on it. __

_**"What the-is that some kinda joke?" **_came Angus' exclaimed disappointment from below. Todd shook his head in stunned amazement as the Vanguard was attacked from multiple sides without striking back.

"That's just pathetic. This won't end well."

However, as Todd twisted away to shoot down two more Cube-forms, the Vanguard zipped past him with a large sword, slicing through a few more enemies, heading for the main system, Todd had to admit that the kid caught on fast. However, as the round system began to approach, Todd yanked back on his control stick, cutting the speed as he did so.

"Bugger this, I'm movin' before we BOTH get blown ter pieces."

And indeed, that's almost exactly what happened. An explosion behind him provided the evidence.

He looked back over his shoulder, only to see a few surviving Cube-forms, the three other fighters, and a large flash right in front of the main system. __

_**"Well, he didn't last long."**_

Todd was about to agree with his brother, or to tell him to shut up and keep firing, he never knew which, but the words froze in his mouth as a red hot metallic hand emerged from the explosion, tearing at its bindings like they were spider webs. First an enormous arm, then an angular head emerged, and Todd could only stare in shock. Not only had the Vanguard survived, it had transformed! It started for the main system, simply ignoring the Cube-forms that bounced off it in the process.

"Not. Bloody…" __

_**"Possible? I think we're about to if that's true, bro."**_

The enhanced blue Vanguard approached the main system, and, despite its best efforts to close up, ripped it open, swiveling two angular cylinders around that Todd had at first thought to be engines or boosters, and fired into the system, the shot erupting out the other side and causing a massive explosion that did almost nothing to damage the Van itself.

Todd cut the speed until he was crawling, then fell back in his seat, jaw dropped behind his mask, his eyes wide under his goggles, not believing what he'd seen. 

_"Not bloody possible…it's jus' not!"_

* * *

He had no idea how long he simply sat there, watching the spot where the system had been…and the Vanguard. Such a mysterious device. If Taraak had designed them to be like this, who knew what else they had up their sleeves…

It was then that another transmission patched through. The girl's face reappeared on the screen, stern and unmoving. Like a bar of steel. __

_**"Bolter Two, was it? You have hereby been taken into our custody. Disable your weapons and follow us onto the flight platform. If you try to run, we will open fire."**_

_"Damnation!"_ Todd thought to himself as he glanced around through the canopy. Both of the other fighters had come up on either side of him, the silver and the red, and apparently both had the jump on him. He keyed the comm link to his brother.

"Angus…Whattya think?" __

_**"Aye, we're totally screwed. They're faster 'n us, we can't escape. We've used up our missiles already, there's no way we can fight against them with just our cannons."**_

Todd sighed, releasing the control stick and, moving his hand over the control stick, contemplated his situation as his thumb hovered over the trigger paddle. If they were to get the first shot, he might be able to blow one down while Angus nailed the other from the back while they escaped. It was a long shot, but it could work. But, afterwards…where? This was a totally different piece of space, from his assumptions, and they'd never find a place to hole up. They'd simply fly on until either the air ran our, the fuel cell went dry, or they starved to death. Or they could be found by Earth again.

Todd ground his teeth in anger as he pulled his hand off the control stick, flipping the arming switches for each of the guns and the now empty missile pods to "Disarmed." Afterwards, he keyed the comm link again, saying "Alright, lead on."

He grumbled a few choice curses under his breath, and although the monitor wasn't connected to the comm link, the girl frowned, and Todd wondered if they perhaps had something similar in their fighters. __

_**"Follow us. If you get too close to either of us, we will hit you with a warning shot." **_

___"Well, she's nice and friendly."_ Todd thought to himself, sarcastically, before keying the comm link to his brother and saying "Angus, you hear that? Keep your bloody finger off that trigger for now, I can' control your weapons from up here, so ye may be our ace in the hole if things go bloody sour." __

_**"Roger…friggin' hell, what'd we do to deserve this?"**_

* * *

It was an odd, odd craft, Meia thought to herself, as the boxy fighter kept itself between her and Jura. Not like some of Taraak's old fighters, before the Van-types, but not nearly as majestic as a Dread. It was slow, sluggish, but judging from the looks of it, the firepower and armor it carried more than made up for that. And it was reasonably fast too, again, not nearly as much as a Dread, but it was at least maneuverable enough to match their enemy. It wasn't Taraak, she reasoned, but it had to be a neighboring planet. But which, she wondered. The nearest was months away, a small grouping of mid-sized planets surrounded on three sides by an asteroid belt.

Finally, the mysterious fighter reached the platform, and Meia and Jura coasted in behind it, landing nearly on the lip so they cut off any escape. Although it was obvious that they wouldn't be able to stay there, the Dreads made the perfect roadblock.

The strange craft finally landed, its engine whining as it died, settling onto four props that emerged from each corner. It was obvious, unlike Taraak ships, where the nose was, as the orange canopy showed its location, but there wasn't a prop underneath for that. Interesting. Though it borrowed several similarities from other planets, it seemed to break through any one design.

A visage, rather blurry, popped up on her pict-screen, and she focused on it again, trying to figure out who was behind the goggles. The oxygen mask, goggles and helmet, obviously for the pilot's protection, were very crude, even more so than Taraak, which suggested that these males obviously hadn't perfected space flight completely.

The person spoke over the comm link, his voice clouted by static but still understandable.

_**"One question: Am I gonna git shot soon as I step out, 'cause that'll jus' gimme more incentive to stay put."**_

His accent was also mysterious. She'd never heard any Taraakian speak like that before. He was reaching under his yellow trench coat for something, presumably a weapon, but Meia would rather not have an explosive situation on her hands. She shook her head, opening a second link to Barnette.

"Tell the girls not to fire immediately, but if he has a weapon in hand, keep an eye on him. I'd rather not have a shootout on the platform."

Barnette rolled her eyes, but agreed before cutting the link. Meia once more addressed the pilot in the other craft that, no, he wasn't going to be killed on sight. This seemed to relieve him substantially, but as he rummaged around and popped the canopy open, she caught sight of a double-barreled revolver, one barrel on top of the other. 

_"That's not good."_ she thought, opening her own canopy and clambering out herself.

The other pilot had managed to get out of his craft and was slowly coming down the side, his revolver up and at the ready, and Meia spotted a sighting laser darting around on the ceiling. A few crewmembers had managed to come forward, weapons and rings on the pilot's chest, though not a one had fired yet. Meia herself brought her fist up, ring at the ready to fire, but something else caught her attention. A ball turret was situated at the rear of the craft, on the belly, right under the tail, but no one was coming out. She decided to hang onto that tidbit of info for now, instead approaching the pilot.

The man she was now focused on had managed to remove his mask, which hung out from the cockpit on a hose. As she came up behind him, he also removed his goggles, letting them hang around his neck, and had pulled off his helmet, revealing short, bright green hair, though she couldn't see his face. The black steel helmet clanged to the deck, and the man was indicating with his unarmed hand as he said "'Ere now, let's not get all trigger happy, eh? How's this, ye lower yer weapons, and I'll put mine away. Okay?"

"Sure," said Meia, as she put her fist up against the back of the man's head.

She heard him mutter "Aw, bugger," before releasing his revolver. It clattered to the floor of the platform, the laser sight dancing around. Judging by the glow, it was the bottom barrel that projected the dot.

Looking away from the weapon, she asked the obvious question that she knew had to be broached if things weren't going to get violent.

"Who are you and what are you doing here?"

The man sighed, keeping his lips sealed. Meia was already starting to get impatient, and she snapped "Well, if you won't tell us, I guess we'll just have to ask your partner back there-"

"Fine!"

The man spun around, glaring at her with such intense ferocity that she took a step backwards in shock. He either didn't notice or didn't care, as he went straight into his answer.

"I'm Todd McHuyens. The one in the turret is me brother Angus. Angus! Jig's up! C'mon out."

For a second, nothing happened, then a small hatch opened on the turret, admitting another soldier in yellow and black, shorter than Todd and complaining a bit more. He seemed to pitch his helmet, goggles and sidearm out before himself, griping all the way.

"Dammit, Todd, didja havta wait so friggin' long? Hell, I thought I was gonna suffocate!" This man, or boy it seemed, had equally green hair as his brother, though he looked to be younger by about two years or so, and his hair was shoulder length instead of short, another sign of teenaged rebellion.

Once both brother had been backed up against their fighter, Meia asked the second part of her question again.

"Now, what are you two doing here?"

Todd and Angus exchanged a brief look, then Todd nodded and turned back to her, saying "We're jus' as stumped as you are."

Meia sighed in irritation, then said "Alright, then start from the beginning. Where are you from?"

Angus popped in with "Jumael. It's about two months or so away from Taraak, out in the Asteroid Loop. We was escorts for the delegates sent aboard the Sierra ter try and get in contact with our neighbors. Then we-Oof! Todd!"

His older brother had elbowed Angus in the gut, a stern look on his face as he turned back to Meia and said "You dun ask, we dun tell. That's our policy right now. We'll on'y answer questions, nothing more."

Meia's eyes narrowed in annoyance. Well, at least one of them knew how to cover his ass. She lowered her fist, convinced they wouldn't at least try to escape with so many armed women around, and said "Alright, then you can stew over your answers in a nice, cozy cell."

Though both Todd and Angus bit their lips, neither offered more information about themselves. Meia came to the conclusion that they were indeed going to be hard to crack.


	3. This Is The Path I Choose To Live

(A/N: Thanks to Kai for the review! Yes, their accents are based on Scottish, but you'll see the exact origins. Also, thanks to TenWings for all the alerts you've stuck on me. Now I feel like I'm being watched every time I go onto FanFiction!)

**Going Down in Flames**

Chapter 3: This Is The Path I Choose To Live

"Our ship has been completely swallowed up," BC began, frowning as she went through several slides up on the large pict-screen mounted on the boardroom wall. "The Bridge, residential quarters, and the engine room have been engulfed by the crystals. Fortunately, the Dread platform and the Reg system suffered no damage. We're in the middle of cleaning up and installing the new database. The spread of Paksis Pragma seems to have finally reached its peak. The bridge has stopped sliding and is currently and is currently situated outside the ship's garden. All changes to the ship have apparently ceased for now."

Meia sighed softly to herself. One bad thing after another, that was what this situation was shaping up to be.

"Your report, Meia?"

Nodding, Meia finally realized it was her turn and replied "Thank you, Buzam." She turned to the captain and gave her own account of events. "The three Dreads that were swallowed up and transformed by the Paksis Pragma no longer fit in any of our standard platforms." 

_"And one of them is mine," _she grumbled to herself.

"We've modified the cargo bay on the men's side and are storing them there. When making those modifications, we discovered that this ship hasn't been used for quite a long time. The circuits and cables are decayed and useless." 

_"Miracle we could even get anything down there working at all."_

Even so, the lifts and storage racks containing the three modified Dreads barely responded at all. That was another project she'd have to get Parfet on, once the engineer had completed the multitude of other technical tasks that the merging of the ships had caused.

Meia was brought back out of her thoughts by the captain asking "And? Any word about our enemy?"

She shook herself slightly before responding "Yes. My team is understaffed, so I sent some volunteers to investigate the site."

The captain looked dumbfounded for an instant before asking "Volunteers? Who?"

Meia bit her lip a little before replying "Well, Gascogne, as she was our resident expert on space craft parts, and…Dita."

The captain closed her eyes and moaned under breath, but Meia came to Dita's rescue with a calm explanation.

"We needed someone who could pilot a Dread, and she was the only one willing to go. She seemed very excited about it, in fact."

The captain waved her hand, saying "Enough. What's done is done. On to something else. What of these new prisoners you've brought in?"

Meia nodded. "Right. As far as we can tell, they are two males who are named Todd and Angus McHuyens. They're brothers who crew an unusual fighter and somehow got launched across the galaxy along with us. Todd, the older one, has taken on a 'don't ask, don't tell' policy, and has forced his brother into it. Any information we get out of them will depend on how we ask our questions."

The captain smiled a little. "So, we looped ourselves a hard-ass, eh? What planet are they from, Taraak?"

Meia shook her head, indicating the holographic system map and saying "No, they're from another that is a few months travel away called Jumael, looped in by this asteroid belt. They were sent as escorts for a diplomatic mission. I managed to get from Angus, in passing, that Jumael had sent delegates to both Taraak and Mejere, so it seems their people are eager to expand. Other than that, we can glean no more information from them at this time."

The captain nodded, fanning herself some more to make up for the lack of air conditioning before asking "And what about their craft? You said it was unusual."

Meia nodded to BC, who brought up a screen of the fighter down in the Dread platform. Several technicians were looking it over, downloading data from the computer, assessing the weapons and armor, and inspecting the cockpit and ball turret very carefully.

"So far as we can tell, their fighter is not influenced by any known style. It has similarities, but is very unique in its own way."

The captain nodded again, thinking to herself again, and Meia found herself dreading what the captain would say. Her fears were realized when the captain smiled again and said "Well, then, that's your assignment. Go down and pester the brothers a bit, see what you can do to budge them some."

Meia grimaced, and it must've been enough that the captain noticed, for the old woman smiled and remarked "I'm sure that you'll do fine. You're all pilots, anyway."

* * *

"Pilots indeed…one of them just mans the turret." Meia grumbled to herself as she made her way to the brig. Though she could have easily passed the order along to someone else, Meia knew better than to disregard a direct order from the captain.

Through the hallways and elevators, the change from smooth, glittering female passageways to dark, featureless male corridors was abrupt and very unsettling to Meia. Finally, however, after what seemed forever with the speed the elevators went now, she reached the brig level. As soon as the elevator opened, Meia swiftly stood to the side to admit BC and two other crewwomen who were leading a very scared looking Bart in the other direction. Meia smiled to herself lightly, allowing herself a light chuckle and a moment of amusement.

"Ah, finally! Some REAL conversation! Y'know, ya look very charming when you smile."

Startled, Meia swiveled around to the side to find Todd watching her through the laser bars of the door to his cell. Her smile instantly turned into a frown at his grin.

"I'm not here to entertain you; I'm here to interrogate you." 

_"Honestly…males!"_ she thought to herself as she stepped up to the door, a scowl on her face.

Angus lay fast asleep behind his brother, curled up in his black padded armor. Both brothers had been stripped of almost all equipment, including their yellow trench coats, though it seemed to affect them very little at all morale wise.

Todd simply shrugged, his face back to being defiant. "Well, they're technically the same, dun ya think? The best way ter interrogate summone is to have a conversation with 'em. Either that or beat the hell outta them."

Meia shook her head, leaning against the wall and muttering "I'm coming close to doing just that."

Todd simply grinned again and laughed, not in mockery, but in genuine humor. "I dun doubt that ye can kick me arse any day of the week, but let's try not to let it get there, eh?"

Meia was dumbfounded at first.

This man was humbly admitting that he thought Meia could defeat him. True, he was laughing as he said it, but it was more directed at himself than making her look foolish. It went against every principle she'd been taught about men.

She narrowed her eyes. "Why? Why do you think that?"

Todd considered her question for a moment, obviously trying to keep his 'don't ask, don't tell policy' in effect. Finally, he seemed to settle on an answer. "I was trained to be a pilot, not boarding infantry. I dun work out. The on'y exercise I do is concentrating on targets. Now Angus, infantry was his original calling."

He turned to look at his little brother with, Meia noted, a substantial amount of pride and a smile. However, as soon as Todd turned back, the smile was gone. For some reason, she thought it shouldn't be, that he really should be smiling. It suited him a little better, she thought…

"What happened, then? Why isn't he still in the infantry?" she asked, shaking herself from her thoughts. Todd shrugged, his eyes becoming heavy and downcast.

"He got his leg blown off one day. Doctors patched 'im up a'ight, but 'ey said he would ne'er be able to walk the same again. So, he signed up for flight school and managed to get hisself transferred to me somehow. Dun ask me why, couldn't tell ya fer sure."

Todd fell silent, though because of contemplation or because he thought he'd fulfilled his policy in answering her, she couldn't tell.

She decided she didn't really care. "So he's got a prosthetic?"

Todd nodded, leaning back and tapping Angus' right leg. The boy didn't stir, and where Todd's fingers made contact, a light, hollow ring filled the cell. Meia was shocked. To think that the smiling, innocent youth had already experienced one of the few things nobody should ever have to go through at his age was simply shocking.

Of course, she was an expert on such things, wasn't she?

Meia looked away from the green-haired man, as if trying to focus on a specific plate of metal in the floor. In simply a few minutes, this man, this person, a fellow pilot and a more than likely enemy, had humbled himself and dissipated all her anger. It was as if he already had a deep connection to her and knew exactly what to say.

Finally, she decided to ask more questions, thinking that coming back empty handed would spell certain doom. "Your fighter…what's it called?"

Todd sighed, scratching his stubbled chin and saying "Tha' is a Bolthawk, also known as Fighter Model fourteen-A. The fourteenth variation of the same system and shape in a series of fifteen."

Meia looked up, frowning. "What's number fifteen?"

Todd turned on his crate before leaning back against the wall and replying "The Magnacyclone. Fighter Model Fifteen D, usin' completely different structure and systems than the other fourteen."

"The latest model, right?" At his nod, she shook her head before asking "So why didn't you get that one? If yours is outdated…"

Todd sighed, staring at the ceiling of the cell with unfocused eyes. "Because 'at's not 'ow it works on Jumael. Instead 'a simply receiving a new craft, the old pilots are 'recycled' into aircraft maintenance, 'er sent ter the magazines to load up the crafts. Then, new pilots are trained in 'ere place."

Meia stared at the ground again, uncrossing her arms and thinking long and hard about what she was going to say.

"I…don't know what I would do if someone pulled me out of my Dread…told me I couldn't fly it anymore."

This had turned from an interrogation to a full out bonding moment, and Meia didn't exactly know how to react to that. Todd, however, simply leaned forward and said "Y'know what else ye also dun seem ter know?"

She looked back at him, a frown on her face and the question on her lips, when he answered. "Ye also dun realize when ter leave the saptastic stuff behind."

He was grinning broadly, but not like he'd won a battle. It was more like he was teasing her.

At first, she just frowned. Then, slowly, she smiled, cocking one eyebrow.

Suddenly, with a rumble, the ship itself spun around, and Meia heard Todd sputter "What the bloody-" before being cut off by the massive acceleration as the ship shot forward. Meia herself was thrown back, fortunately away from the bars, unfortunately into a wall behind her. As her head slammed back into the metal, she heard Todd yelling at her, but to her it simply sounded garbled up until she got her head clear.

"-the bars! C'mon, ye wanna fry us!?"

Her vision straightening and returning to normal, Meia managed to turn to the brothers' cell to catch sight of Todd just inches from the laser bars of the door, Angus, now starting to wake up, laying against his back, both of them cursing as they held onto either the wall or the frame of the door. As soon as she could get her feet back under control, Meia managed to bound over to the control panel on the doorframe, punching the access code to deactivate the lasers. Men they may be, she would not have their deaths on her hands.

The lasers flickered first, then disappeared, and Todd relaxed, allowing both him and Angus to fall through the doorway. She stepped forward, offering her hand to Todd, who took it gratefully, letting the still semi-conscious form of his brother fall to the floor as he stood. After a look down at Angus, Todd shook his head, saying "He's a rock hard sleeper. We wun be able ter get 'im up."

Meia nodded, saving her words for later. Now was not the time for talking.

* * *

They were severely delayed by the slow-moving elevator and the way the ship teetered every now and then at the speed it was going. Still, even after the elevator reached the mid area of the ship, they still had to wade through the crewmembers going every which way, the lurching ship itself, everything that could possibly hinder them. Finally, however, they reached the modified cargo bay, and Meia swept the door open before groaning loudly. Todd had gotten in by this time and had spotted what the problem was.

"Oi, tha's jus' great." he snarled. The power here was offline, most likely courtesy of the decayed circuitshe'd heard being complained of. They wouldn't be able to launch the modified Dreads.

Meia quickly grabbed her communicator, barking orders into it while Todd examined the craft themselves. So peculiar…such strange shapes. And now, however, that he'd gotten the chance to see it up close, he started to have the nagging suspicion that Meia's craft had been that first one he'd fired upon in the battle not that long ago.

He suddenly had to resist the urge to laugh out loud. Only a few hours ago, he'd been wondering when he was going to see any action.

It seemed more like a lifetime.

He was brought back to reality sharply as a hand landed on his shoulder, yanking him around. Meia still had her communicator out, but was staring him dead in the eye as she asked "Listen to me when I'm talking to you! The main Dread platform's also offline. Can you launch your fighter?"

Todd blinked in surprise before sighing and shaking his head, replying "Nup, not without a launcher of some kind."

Meia huffed in annoyance, shutting her communicator as she muttered "I need to think."

Fortunately, the small elevator that the women had engineered on the fly to lift the pilots up to their separate Dreads was still working, seeing as it had its own separate power source, and Meia was lifted up to her Dread, leaving Todd to stew in his own thoughts on the ground.

The ship lurched again, and Todd staggered along the cargo bay, grabbing onto the main support strut to steady himself as he stared upwards, muttering, "Bloody hell, what the deuce're they doin' up there?"

* * *

It wasn't for another hour, however, that the ship finally slowed, then stopped altogether.At first, Todd breathed a sigh of relief, but then the word "Nebula" floated down to him from Meia's communicator.

And so it was, in the darkness of the cargo bay, that Todd McHuyens really loathed God for the first time in his entire life.

Another two hours went by in this fashion, with Todd sitting by the door, trying to think of something to do, cursing God for sticking him in this sort of situation, when the lights suddenly flickered, then switched on. Todd looked up at the ceiling, dumbstruck for a moment before a smile lit his face up, and he yelled "Oi! Weird girl!"

"My name is Meia!" she yelled back at him, and Todd's grin simply got wider. He dashed forward, slapping the panel on the little elevator and lifting himself up to her Dread, the silver one, before leaping out onto the fighter. This, of course, drew her sapphire eyes to him, and she glared at him while he jumped up and down a little, giddy with excitement and cheered "The power's back! We ent gonna die!"

She sighed, looking down at her dashboard before saying "Yes, that's all well and good, but could you get off my fighter NOW!"

* * *

What was up with this man? A fourth hour had gone by, and though he wasn't dancing around anymore, he still hadn't left her. Instead, he sat out on the nose of her Dread, his legs dangling over the sides, as bored as she would've been if she hadn't a list of things to do in her head. The ship itself had managed to pull out of the nebula, and was cruising along at a steady pace, no jolts this time, or else they both might have fallen to their deaths.

It was dead silent. Then, as it turned out, they started talking again.

It simply started with "Ye said ye couldn't imagine what it was like ter be grounded…unable to fly. Why izzat?"

She looked up from where she'd been tinkering with the circuits, trying to find similarities and differences between the form of her Dread now and the way it had been before it had been transformed. He had turned around, now, facing her and sitting cross legged, closer to the cockpit than before.

It was such an odd question that, at first, it had caught her off guard, but now that she thought about it, she'd never delved into the reasons before. Now, however, they came to her easily.

She turned back to the circuits, trying to appear indifferent, and answered, in a more clipped tone than she had intended "It's freedom. Flying is the one place that there just doesn't seem to be any restrictions. Nothing there to stop you except what needs to be blasted away. That answer your question?"

At first, he didn't react, and she began to suspect that she may have offended him. Normally, this wouldn't have bothered her at all, but for some reason she was a little worried about him. Then, he answered, in a quiet voice "Ya…y'know, tha's the same thing I think."

She looked up at him, leaning back lazily and staring at the ceiling with a small smile on his face, about to ask him a question, but was cut off by a hologram popping up from her dashboard. It was BC and the captain in the boardroom, obviously making an important announcement.

The first mate began her speech. "The captain and I have just concluded our meeting. We've decided we should inform the entire crew of our current situation. Upon analyzing the data we've retrieved from the enemy debris, we have gathered some intelligence on our enemy. I'd like you all to take a look at this image."

BC's face disappeared, and was replaced by a strange planet, with intriguing black lines running across its brown surface. Though Meia herself didn't recognize the planet, Todd had leaned forward, suddenly, as if it meant something to him, but had settled back again, a look of indifference on his face, and Meia got the feeling she wouldn't get any info out of him on this planet, "Don't as, don't tell" policy or not.

BC continued her narrative. "This is their home planet. We don't know its exact location, but they seem to have quite a lot of firepower." 

_"Got that right"_ thought Meia, thinking back to the first conflict with the mysterious enemy.

"We are currently in this enemy's territory and they are attacking us because they perceive our presence to be hostile. For this reason, we expect more battles with this enemy to occur on our return course to Mejerrian space."

Both Meia and Todd groaned at this.

"We learned something else from the data: our enemy is about to launch a full scale operation which calls for the destruction of our home planet Mejere as well as the male planets Taraak and Jumael."

Todd's face seemed to harden over with ice as he gazed at BC's holographic face, and Meia felt herself freeze up inside, not only because of the danger her home was in, but also because of that expression. It was as if she were staring at death itself, so cold were his eyes.

BC, fortunately, wasn't aware that she was being fixed with a death glare and continued again. "Our faceless enemy is, for some unknown reason, planning for the complete obliteration of our home planets."

The hologram switched over to the captain now, just as stone-faced as Todd was.

"We are pirates and as such our loyalties are not bound to either Mejere or Taraak. However, it's certainly not in our best interests to allow an unknown force to destroy our potential customers. Therefore, I plan to reach our home system before our enemy does to inform both worlds of this crisis."

The captain's eyes hardened even more, if that were possible, and Meia saw Todd's eyebrow lift slightly.

"In order to be successful, we must incorporate the men we have taken prisoner into our crew."

Meia's own eyebrows shot up in shock and surprise, and even Todd seemed a little baffled. In the background, over the link, she heard Bart chuckling and remarking "So you finally see it my way."

"Oi, God…" muttered Todd, though in response to suddenly being a pirate or to Bart's comment, she couldn't tell.

The captain ignored everything and kept talking. "There are many things we don't understand yet, such as this ship and that large machine. But I'm sure we'll learn about these one piece at a time as we continue on our journey. I expect the cooperation of the entire crew. That is all!"

And then, as if it had never been, the hologram disappeared. Both Meia and Todd, however, were still staring at the spot where it had been.

Finally, Todd cleared his throat and, looking up at Meia, asked "So…what now, shipmate?"


	4. I Want To Know More About You

(A/N: Thanks again to everyone who have read my story up 'til now! And please,

**Going Down in Flames**

Chapter 4: I Want To Know More About You

He simply looked so strange.

Meia sat at a table in the mess hall, right in her usual spot, sipping her coffee and watching one of their newest crew members filling his own cup. As Todd was now one of her 'shipmates' as he'd so eloquently put it, she found herself unable to deny his request for his and Angus' equipment back.

She did, however, suspend their weapons, giving them to Barnette immediately. The feisty brunette had her own stockpile of firearms and would know exactly what to do with the brothers' guns. Or, at least, she would have, had the technicians not discovered the armory shelves concealed in both sides of the Bolthawk.

It had been a simple accident.

Meia had been down with Todd, handing him his yellow trench coat, black helmet, and empty holster, when Parfet herself, having taken a curiosity in the fighter, flipped an unlabeled switch in the cockpit. With a clack, two wide, thin shelves slid out of either side of the fighter, loaded with every kind of firearm imaginable, including shotguns, assault rifles, SMGs, more revolvers, even a few heavy weapons, including a long sniper rifle and a rocket launcher. Todd had simply watched the show with a frown, saying "I almos' forgot those were in 'ere." Of course, Meia didn't believe him at first, but when Todd brought it up to his brother in the mess hall, the younger man had excused himself rather promptly before hurrying out. Todd had sighed and stood up to refill his coffee.

And this was where they were now, with Meia contemplating on Todd's oddness, watching his strange green hair bobbing up and down as he hummed an unnamed tune while he waited. She looked down at his helmet, still sitting on the table, and wanted to snort in humor. The idea that a deathtrap fighter like his, without even a reliable seal, could be even airworthy, much less spaceworthy, was too much to accept. She would have to watch the brothers the next time they flew out, see if they were actually worth having out of their cells.

She heard him coming, thanks to the trench coat slapping against his pants, and looked up as he sat down across from her, sighing once more, she had lost count how many times, and started sipping his coffee silently. Meia decided to copy his decision and did the same.

It was like that for a few minutes, before Todd put his nearly empty cup down and said "Nice brew. Better 'an anythin' from Jumael."

Meia nodded as she said "Yes. I like it."

Then it was silent once more.

She stole a glance up at him, nothing the dark spots around his eyes, the sullen expression. He'd probably been like this even before getting mixed up with them. What could have caused him to be this way? He'd seemed so upbeat, at least when he'd been talking to her earlier.

It was an awkward silence, though she wasn't sure why. Shouldn't the fact that he wasn't talking to her be good? She shouldn't be fraternizing with the enemy, after all.

Still, something didn't feel right.

She let it go, or, at least, she did until it finally irritated her so much that, after a half hour of sitting there in silence, she finally snapped "Say something! Aren't you supposed to be the talkative one here?"

He looked up at her, his face looking genuinely surprised. "Oh…I figgered ye wouldn't wanna talk ter me right now. Y'know…an' all."

This caught her attention, but did nothing to lower her hostility. "No, I don't know, now cut it out with the bi-polar-ness and tell me what the hell is wrong?"

Todd snorted, trying to fight a grin, before he muttered "Look who's talking about bi-polar-ness…"

Huffing in annoyance, Meia sat down again, staring at her coffee, trying to fathom a reason as to why she'd been saddled with this idiot. Todd had been assigned her wingman, as the men called it, which meant he was to basically watch her back during a fight. Preferably, she'd rather not trust a man with her food, much less her life, but with non-existent reinforcements, it meant that the entire Dread force would be stretched to its limit. And that meant…

_"We've got to accept help wherever we can find it…"_ she thought to herself, glancing at Todd once more, who had started stirring his coffee with a spoon.

She just couldn't figure him out, and though she wasn't sure why she wanted to, it aggravated her. Meia always liked challenging herself, but this sort of puzzle that seemed to have been thrust upon her without her consent was simply refusing to be unraveled. She didn't even have a clue about where to go with this guy, this…man. Though she had to admit that he was not the typical man she had been taught to know.

Finally, Todd set his spoon down and looked up, sighing as he said "I haven't been able to sleep the last few nights."

She wasn't expecting the break in silence, and it caught her off guard. Her head snapped up, though she was able to keep her face composed as she eyed him warily. "Ok, well, the first step is admitting you have a problem. Now, do you know why?"

Todd scratched the back of his neck before continuing, in an undertone "I haven't talked aboot it ter anyone, y'know? It'd sound rather silly un'ess ye were anodder pilot. 'N I didn' have many people in the military I'd radder be sharin' my secrets wid, an' Angus is…well, Angus." He paused a second, as if contemplating something, before continuing, cautiously "Y'see, I was always afraid I'd be next. Y'know, fer getting' me bird scrapped. There was on'y me and anodder in Bolthawks. That were always me worst fear…now it seems so insignificant."

He chuckled, and Meia frowned, wondering where all this was coming from. She could share in his fear of always losing the last thing left. But why had he simply switched moods on her? Did he have a split personality?

Regardless, she tried to keep the conversation going. "Most everything we were afraid of, getting caught, going bankrupt, seems insignificant and far away. The only thing we really have to concentrate on now is survival, you here me?"

He nodded, saying "I do hear ya. Tha's the thing though. I dunno why, but I just feel…y'know, this connection with ya. This girl I jus' met."

Meia snorted to hide her shock, trying to fight down a blush. "Great, this is the part where you say, 'I love you' and we walk away happily ever after like some cheap romance story. Or did your fantasy happen to go along another line?"

He stared at her for a second, then smiled before responding "I git it, payback for the brig. Tha's good, I'll have ter remember to git you for that."

Meia simply smiled as she sipped at her coffee, replying "Oh, you can try, but I don't know. Besides, what about your 'don't ask, don't tell' policy?"

It was a brief second before they both broke out into a fit of chuckling, trying to keep it from getting any louder. What was so, funny? Just the fact that instead of

* * *

At another table, a certain diminutive nurse began scribbling away at her notepad, grinning evilly as she recorded the facts going on across the mess hall from her. "First arguments, then laughter, and all while keeping it to themselves. What is going on, I wonder?" She stuck out her tongue as she muttered "Scoop!"

* * *

Without warning, the captain's voice rang out over the intercom.

"All hands prepare for battle!" a split second before the ship rocked with explosions. Meia snapped her head around, muttering "Another enemy attack?" as Todd snorted and snarled "Those bastards certainly dun let up, now do they?"

They both abandoned their coffee, sprinting for the elevator to the flight deck. After much consideration, and the cleaning out of the small arms from the shelves, it was decided that the Bolthawk would be better stored up in the modified cargo bay, as its proportions were much too large, mostly in the wings, to be launched off the main Dread platform. So, the large, bulky fighter had been stored right above Meia's, making it all the easier for both to access their crafts.

However, when both of them reached the bay, Meia held out her arm to stop Todd from heading over to the small elevator, pointing to the red-haired form of Dita, simply standing there, facing the enormous door. Meia hurried up, with Jura not far behind her, having appeared from somewhere, and, upon reaching the young pirate, snapped "Why are you just standing here, Dita? Get into your Dread!"

And Dita smiled, giddily, before replying "It's just that Mr. Alien FLEW right out of here! He was soooo fast! Woosh!"

Jura frowned and muttered "He's out there? Already?"

All four of them looked back at the exit, contemplating just how Hibiki had left so fast. Well, in Meia's case, she was wondering how the hell she would deal with a loose-cannon like this.

"Bloody hell...I quit," exclaimed Todd, throwing his hands up in the air and dropping his helmet to the deck. As if right on queue, Angus stepped through the door, helmet in hand, yelling "I got 'ere as fast as I could, bro!" only to realize no one was going anywhere. Todd looked back over his shoulder, smiling grimly as he said "Angus, pack up, we're quittin'. Nothin' to kill 'ere."

And Angus, bless his soul, didn't get the joke, blinking and saying "Wait, what? But, hold on…"

He trailed off as, with a whoosh, Hibiki's Vanguard swooped back into the hold, hovering briefly before coming to rest back in its spot, off to the side on a separately modified rack. If looks could kill, Meia was positive hers would zap Hibiki the second he climbed out. Todd nudged her with his elbow and muttered "Ah say ye kill 'im."

Meia huffed, not even sparing him a glance and biting down on her tongue, careful to hold back her anger. The powered suit open with a whirr of gears, and the culprit himself climbed out, grinning ear to ear and looking very much like he owned the world. Meia heard Todd behind her mutter "So tha's the all too famous Hibiki Tokai, eh? Well, he dun look like much."

Personally, Meia agreed with him, but she was rather too preoccupied to say so. Hibiki, cocky bastard that he was, smirked and leaned down towards Meia, stating "You must be here to thank me for taking care of things again." 

_"You've gotta be kidding me…"_

Her eyes narrowed as she snarled "Don't be so conceited. You put yourself in a lot of danger by doing that. You're only to act on my direct orders." Hibiki was, after all, under her command, though she doubted the kid saw it that way. And indeed, he didn't.

As he dropped to the deck, he chuckled. "Huh. Don't make me laugh! How can you expect to beat the enemy if you let a little danger bother you? Well, I guess you don't have to. You got ME now to protect you."

Oh, God, the idiot even held up his arm, as if showing off his biceps. 

_"Nope, he's not kidding." _

Behind her, she head Todd and Angus both snigger and even caught Angus out of the corner of her eye clapping a hand over his mouth and turning away. Ignoring the brothers, she simply huffed in annoyance and remarked "Small dogs always bark the loudest."

_"Well, that certainly got his attention."_

And indeed, it had, for Hibiki's mouth fell open in shock before he growled "That may be true, but it's better than not being able to bark at all." 

_"Oh, so he wants to play that game, now does he?"_

She could keep up with him. Hell, she could even surpass him. "Except you're not the one who's barking! It's just your machine, right?"

It had boiled down to a full-blown insult fight, and Hibiki seemed to be mentally scrambling for a handhold. To buy himself time, he snarled "Are you looking for trouble with me?"

Behind her once more, she heard Todd remark "Oh, he's losin'. Now comes the part where she fries his arse." 

_"Think I just may do that, too."_

Her face still expressionless, she leaned forward slightly and said "What's the matter, can't handle the truth?"

And all the apparent genius Hibiki could come up with was "Who died and made you king? Who do you think you are?"

Meia realized that this argument was no challenge, she had practically won, even without the brothers' in the background pissing the kid off. Instead of insulting him, she simply snarled "You're OUR prisoner!"

"Yeah, but don't forget YOUR prisoner saved your butt!"

* * *

Personally, Todd would've given the kid a black eye, sent him sprawling over the floor. The fact that Meia had managed to restrain her anger like that was simply proof of her own self-containment. Unfortunately, this happened to include all her feelings, not just her anger.

He sat by idly, listening as she plotted Hibiki's dose of humble pie, watching her neutral expression. The girl didn't even celebrate a victory, for crying out loud.

"Ye know what yer problem is?" he asked her, as she cut the link to the bridge. She eyed him warily, obviously trying to decide how to answer that before responding "No, I don't."

He shrugged. "Well, too bad, 'cause yer getting' it anyway."

She sighed in irritation, but he simply plowed on. "Yer too reserved. Ye dun even talk ter anyone 'cept me 'n Angus, an' I know tha's simply for information."

She turned to face him, unreadable expression on her face. "Look, I didn't ask to go interrogate you. I didn't ask to be saddled with you, and I sure as hell didn't ask for you to get all bi-polar and emotional on me."

Todd shook his head, grimacing at her words. "But tha's yer problem, see. Yer mad, I can tell, but ye dun ever let it out. Not at that kid, not at me. Hell, when ye snapped at me earlier, I were so shell-shocked, I didn't know what ter say fer a sec." She snorted, but he didn't give her the chance to respond. "But still, tha's a release. A brief moment where I get ter see who Meia Gisborn is."

She froze, her head coming up to look at him with unbridled confusion, then hostility.

"How…how do you know my name?"

Todd simply shrugged, pushing off from the wall and remarking "'S not mah fault ye girls left yer database wide open without a password. All I had ter do was cruise through fer a bit."

Meia frowned, her lips pulling back in a snarl, before growling "You're a spy!"

Todd smiled, running a hand through his hair and stating, calmly "Now, see, when ye bottle things up, ye jump to assumptions like that there. I jus' wanted ter find out more about the people I'm servin' with, y'know. Dun I have that-"

He never finished his sentence.

Moving faster than anyone else he'd seen on foot, she darted forward, swinging her hand around to slap him on the face with a sharp crack. Not expecting it, Todd's head snapped around, a red handprint on his cheek.

For a second, that's how they were, her looking shocked at what she had done and him looking equally surprised, if not more so. Finally, Meia put her hand down, recomposing herself as she muttered "You bastard. You shouldn't have done that."

Groaning slightly, Todd brought his head back around, rubbing his cheek as he cursed under his breath. "Damn, some arm ye got there. Now, how did that feel?"

She cocked her head, frowning as she considered the question. "Actually…pretty good. Though, I doubt you needed to go so far as to view my files to get me to slap you."

Todd chuckled, putting his hand down as he said "Hey, it was all about gettin' ye ter show some emotion. An' we can't all go through life wit'out summone there ter help us. I got Angus. Ever'one's got their friends. Who do you have?"

It was at that moment that, judging by the mournful look she gave him, he realized that he'd said the wrong thing. Swiftly, Todd tried to save himself, but it was too late. She'd locked the door again, shutting him away from herself. Her face hardened over as she replied "I don't have to answer that. I don't need anyone."

There were bars falling and locks sliding in her voice, and Todd knew it would be a mistake to try again. Instead, he held up a hand and replied "Then I'll talk to ye later. Sorry, by the way."

"Just go," she answered, harshly. "Just leave."

And so he did.

* * *

She thought maybe she'd been a little too hard on him. He'd only been trying to help. Still, he didn't have to go as far as snooping through her files to do it. She doubted he'd even read them, most likely just said he had so she'd snap. Even though she'd only known Todd for a day, that seemed like the sort of thing he'd do. And then, bringing up how everyone needed someone...

Now, though, as she hurried down to the cargo bay, alarms flashing and sirens blaring, she thought maybe she'd apologize. However, as she opened the door to the slapdash hanger, she spotted the Bolthawk lifting off from its rack. 

_"Dammit, Todd, why do you have to be so evasive right now?"_

Because she knew that's exactly what he was doing. He knew he'd crossed a line, so he was running away to make sure he didn't light the fuse again. Most likely, he'd just been sitting down here, or up in his craft when the alarm had gone, and only had to wait for his brother to arrive before he just flipped a few switches and launched. People were all the same.

The main flaw in the Bolthawk's design became apparent as it finally slid off the rack and fell to the deck, taxing the landing skids to hold its weight. She even saw one bend sharply before it snapped back into shape, and knew heavy modification was in order. The new launcher came up under the fighter and literally tossed it out of the bay. She watched the whole show impassively, but inside, she was boiling with anger. 

_"How can he just run away like that after what he said?"_

She knew she shouldn't get worked up over a person she'd barely met, a man at that, but it just gnawed away at her like acid. As she clambered into her Dread, she punched up his new frequency on her comm unit, and when his picture appeared, albeit obscured by the helmet, mask and goggles, she snarled "What are you doing, Todd? You need to stay in formation! Wait until I give you the order to launch! Is that understood?"

Onscreen, he saluted calmly, saying "Aye, ma'am. Was just gettin' out there, no heroics. Won't 'appen again."

There it was again. That other side of him. It seemed Todd McHuyens was a three sided coin. One side was his usual jackass self, another his depressed personality, and the third this deadly calm, like the calm before a major storm. It royally pissed her off, so much so that she snapped at Dita for launching late. It was only after she'd closed the link and gotten into position at the head of the formation that she'd realized what she'd done, and what Todd had done to her. And she knew, despite desperately not wanting to, that she would have to apologize later. Though she would have to suck up to it then, she knew she owed him nothing now. He was wrong, she didn't need anyone, and she would prove that as well, right here and now. She didn't need some smart mouthed prisoner telling her what to think.

Barnette was the last Dread to be loaded up and ready to fight, sliding into formation with an affirmative. Todd and Angus were directly underneath her, being the slowest, and Jura and Dita had her flanks covered. Now was not the time to make up with jackasses.

Now was the time to fight.

She activated her comm unit on the ship's frequency, reporting "Dread team formation is set up and ready to go."

* * *

He had done the wrong thing.

Why he was thinking such a thing at this time was completely out of his ability to reason, but as he hammered away at the sphere that was barreling through the group, couldn't even be called a formation now, of Dreads, he knew he'd been wrong to push Meia's buttons. Now she'd gone and locked him out of her world. He could hear her over the comm unit, telling everyone to shut up about Hibiki. Hell, the only order Todd himself had gotten from her was to hang back and bombard the enemy at a distance. He supposed that was best, as he was substantially slower than everyone else. Still, what good were he and Angus doing with their cannons pounding away at a target that would most likely not even be there when the bullet got there?

The arrival of the delivery ship did little to enlighten his mood, made even worse when the Vanguard with, who else, but Hibiki slammed in.

"Aw, bloody hell, not that idiot again."

Suddenly, the guns stopped firing. Todd frowned, looking down at his trigger finger, depressing it again and again. Nothing happened. He opened the link to Angus quickly and said "Angus, quit firing! I'm dry!" And the ball turret cut out, though, as Todd feared, not from orders, but because it too was dry. __

_**"Sorry, Todd, what was that? Couldn't hear ya over the guns, but I think they're dry now."**_

"Ooooooiii…" muttered Todd, slamming his helmeted head against the dashboard. Meia's voice came in over the comm link. __

_**"McHuyens, what are you doing? I didn't tell you to cease fire!"**_

Todd looked up at her picture on the monitor and snarled back "We're dry! Empty! Out! Bingo ammo! Whatever the hell ye wanna call it, we dun' have bullets! So shut it!" __

_**"This is exactly why I didn't want to bring a man into battle! You're all just a liability!"**_

"Alright, shut it already!" Todd growled, snapping off the comm link and opening a line to the ship "Flight, I'm comin' in. Need a custom order to go and the launcher reset-aw, dammit!"

The Bolthawk had been struck by the sphere on its way towards the ship, one of the spines knocking it off course. Todd fought with the controls as red lights staring flashing, warning sirens started blaring, and the fighter itself was spinning. Things flashed before him, and he could make out the delivery ship, a few Dreads, the sphere, even Meia's Dread once, all flitting by him like he was nothing at all. 

_"Completely ignored…"_

It came back to him again, that feeling of being overlooked, that he had lived with all his life. Rising inside of him, combined with the pressure of the spinning craft, he couldn't hold on much longer. He felt a vein burst in his nose, and his vision swam red. Unable to hold his head straight, his helmet slammed into the side of the canopy, opening all the frequencies on his comm unit. He caught snatches of voices in his rushing ears, mostly exclaiming a fighter flying off course, Gasco yelling about coming after him, Angus yelling about being sick…but through it all, he never heard Meia at all. As his vision went from red to black, he faintly felt the sensation of a sudden, lurching stop.

And then he knew no more.

* * *

She watched him, just laying there, with the clear oxygen mask over his face and the IV inserted into his wrist. McFile had insisted Todd was going to be alright, but she knew that might well just be wishful thinking. She'd taken it upon herself to be there when he'd woken up, or when he died, either one, but either way, she intended to apologize full heartedly. Though the battle had been harsh, she'd come to a startling realization after Hibiki's Vanguard had combined with her Dread. 

_"Everyone really does need help. Oh, God, what am I going to say?"_

Apologies weren't Meia's thing. There was still so much to apologize to him for, though. How she'd acted when he'd simply tried to help her, the way she'd called him a liability for running out of ammo. She even considered the way the shape the Bolthawk, ensnared by the delivery ship and pulled back, thrashed, to the deck to be her fault, in a way.

And then there was…

Suddenly, he stirred, and she stood, watching his eyes. They flicked once, twice, then his eyelids opened. It took a few seconds for him to recognize her, but once he did, he sighed, raggedly, and muttered, in a hoarse voice "Well, I know I'm in hell now."

She groaned in annoyance, muttering "Do you ever stop?"

Todd smiled slightly, whispering "I didn' think ye'd ever want to see me again, much less talk to me."

Meia nodded, placing a hand on his arm. "Well, I thought about it, and I realized…I was wrong. There, you made me say it. I guess I do need someone to hang onto. Unfortunately, you're the only one who gets to me this way. So, would you mind me hanging off your shoulder?"

He smiled again, closing his eyes as he considered her words, before opening them again and replying "Apology accepted. Though, ye may need to share some space with Angus."

Her own smile dropped. She turned away, hoping he hadn't seen, but it was too late. He frowned, then asked "What…happened out there?"

She turned back, trying to keep her face composed, and took a deep breath before explaining. "The sphere knocked you off course, but it also disabled your inertia dampeners. It's a miracle you weren't completely crushed by that G force."

Todd shrugged, obviously not in the mood to crack a joke.

She went on. "The Bolthawk's in pretty bad shape. Parfet believes it can be restored, but we're going to have to make some modifications. We'll have to redo almost the entire cockpit and replace the engine. At least you won't need a launcher to take off."

Todd smiled again, but it disappeared almost as soon as it had come. "That's not everythin'. What else is there? Somthin' happened, didn' it?"

This was the part she dreaded. Above all else, she had hoped to not be the one to tell him of this. "Well, when the Bolthawk was brought back, there was a crucial part missing, and we couldn't find it until after the battle."

She took another breath to steady herself.

"The ball turret was shaken loose by the force of the impact. It ripped off from the continuous spinning."

It took a moment for it to sink in, but sink in it did. Hard.

Todd sat up, sharply, despite several broken ribs and wheezed out "God, no…Angus, what about-"

But Meia had to shake her head. "I'm sorry, Todd…we couldn't get to him in time. His air tank had been ripped off. I'm so sorry…he's dead."


End file.
